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Galatasaray to fit solar energy plant at Türk Telekom Stadium

Turkish Süper Lig football club Galatasaray has entered into a partnership with Enerjisa that will see the energy company install a solar power plant at Türk Telekom Stadium.

The plant will be located on the roof of the 52,000-seat stadium and will supply both Galatasaray and the local area with solar power.

Galatasaray president Mustafa Cengiz said that Enerjisa will cover the TRY20m (£1.9m/€2.2m/$2.7m) cost of construction. Enerjisa will operate the plant for 10 years, after which point Galatasaray will assume control.

According to Galatasaray’s deputy chair Yusuf Günay, the plant will contribute TL100m to the club over the course of 25 years. Murat Pınar, chief executive of Enerjisa, added that the plant can power 2,000 households and will save around 200,000 trees.

It is hoped the installation of the 40,000-square-foot plant can be completed within 12 months. The partnership was presented during an official signing ceremony earlier this week.

Galatasaray’s fellow Süper Lig club Antalyaspor has solar panels fitted on the roof of its stadium to provide power for the venue.

Solar energy projects are becoming increasingly prevalent among sports venues around the world. Earlier this week, Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena furthered its ambition to be a net zero carbon facility by agreeing a partnership with renewable energy infrastructure fund Excelsior Energy Capital and solar energy systems developer Unico Solar Investors.

The deal was signed with arena developer Oak View Group (OVG) and Seattle Kraken, the NHL expansion ice hockey franchise which will play in the facility. It will lead to the installation of onsite solar arrays.

Image: 1886kusagi/CC BY-SA 4.0/Edited for size